skaikru | inbox @ comesailaway

Figures the next one will be bad again. This and camp, it's all been too light. Misguided sounds a lot like failed, I'd bet he's embarrassed and bitter.

So.

Are we digging something up, or are we taking Skulduggery's warning to heart?

( the question of if they're going or not isn't even worth asking. )

[Of course they're going, of course they're gonna be angry and spiteful af]

I think we should take it to heart. You know he's petty. If he really decides to punish us for touching his precious dollhouse, we'll be vulnerable. The ship can be just as dangerous as the excursions.

( boring but — )

Yeah, that's probably smart. Knocking our teeth out is a pretty extreme version of petty, but. I imagine if there was anything even worth digging up, something that'd come close to hurting him, the punishment would be a lot more severe. And if it is all just stage dressings made from the same source material, it probably wouldn't even matter how well done they are. I'm less and less convinced there's much to learn from soil and water samples anymore.

( and that's frustrating as hell, but nowhere near the top of the list lately. )

How bad do you think bad will get? Another murder game or just an all out torture dungeon.

( there are so, so many ways to hurt people... )

Back at that stupid party he told you that your own life isn't a good incentive. So my guess is that this time death will have lasting consequences or he'll try to make us hurt people we care about. He seems to enjoy watching us do things to ourselves, anyway.

( hey, guess what point she gets stuck on. )

Hm.

Is there any chance — a snowflakes chance in hell, rabbit in a den of wolf odds — that I could talk you into staying behind this time?

Could I talk YOU into staying behind?

I mean, you could try, but...

Point taken. ( worth a shot, she had to try. please don't let this backfire horrifically and scar them. )

We'll do our best to not play.

Of course.

But. I don't want to die like that again. At least not that early on. I shouldn't have ever let La Pluma get that close to me last time, that was a mistake.

La Pluma's not around anymore. Heard from Mizuki. Others will still be a threat though. But if we stay together I can usually tell when someone approaches.

Sounds like a good plan but

( suppose your own life isn't much of a cause. i'll keep that in mind for the next one. he gets the implication if they stick together on this one right? he has to. )

We should talk about the downsides of teaming up.

[Yeah, he gets it, but he doesn't know what to DO with it.]

Would it help if I told you I don't really care what happens to me?

( no that doesn't fucking help, I CARE, YOU GIANT BABY. )

Cool. Me neither, then.

[As tempting as it is to go down the "it's MY turn to die this time" line, it probably won't help.]

So we go our separate ways and hope for the best? The camp had random groups. For we all know the next one can be a deadlier version.

Nothing forced us to stay in our assigned cabins at the camp, and nothing forced us to group up on the island. There's wiggle room, and if we want to make our own teams, I doubt the Captain would swoop in to course correct.

( but a more important point: )

Splitting up is an option but that's not what I meant.

Good. I don't want to split up.

[And 30 seconds later:]

You better not say you'll take the bullet metaphorically or not

That's basically what you just said, right?

( blah blah i don't care what happens to me blah blah she already knows how you feel about death natsuno, clocked your self sacrificial tendencies, and also just like...

he's important to me. she's said it more than once. the captain already expressed his overwhelming knowledge of the interpersonal going on's of the ship (redirecting watson's bullet to almost hit cesar at the victory dinner, etc), and if he has any inclination to use his overarching control of their reality to make them hurt...

this one'd be easy. )

I'm just saying me too, and no hard feelings if that's the choice it comes down to.

[There's a delay before he finally texts back.]

I'll try. [He can't promise more.] And same.

( good talk, they're both on the same page of giving the other a pass if it comes down to a highlander situation — there can only be one. that's not... sad or anything. )

My only other plan is endurance training, in case I need to outpace an attacker or cover a lot of ground without stopping. Can shiki build muscle mass?

[That's not sad, that's pragmatic coping mechanisms. They're both great at this.]

I think, if they're alive me, but my endurance is naturally better than humans'. My problem is that I don't know how to fight. I'm strong, but that may not be enough if someone experienced corners me.

Strength, agility, resilience and endurance can make up for a lot of inexperience. If you can keep your distance and aim, a bullet makes up for it even more. If you're talking more up close and personal, like a knife fight, Darcy might be able to help you with that.

( she has nothing concrete to offer him in way of skills to impart. despite a future hard won victory, clarke's no expert in this. not a boxer, no sense of mixed martial arts, not even all that strong. but feisty and aware enough of her surroundings that she's managed come out on top a few times.

underhanded too, not that there's really such thing as a cheap shot or dick move when fighting for your life. )

And if it comes down to it... You've really never been in a fist fight before?

I'd rather keep my distance, but some people here have super speed, like Jinx. If I get into a close fight I'd want to end it quickly. I can bite, but don't want to rely just on that. I've been in one fist fight and got my ass kicked. And I wasn't trying to win, just needed to get his distracted and push him into a pit.

Most fights are getting your ass kicked until you find the right moment to strike back, so you've got that part right.

Everything, and it really isn't much, I learned about fighting I learned in the middle of a brawl or by watching, but if you want to learn more I'll show you. At least how to get out of a chokehold, and which parts people who don't regenerate tend to guard versus which weak spots they don't even consider and leave open.

Using super strength on wide open weak spots sounds like a plan. It's faster when you fight dirty.

It's effective, for sure. Super speed won't get you very far when your Achilles' tendons have been severed.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject